Devils get time to regroup, recharge after letdown against Sabres

So the Devils' win streak ends at four with the loss to Buffalo. Still, the Devils have won 9 of 11 as they head off to Toronto and Buffalo for back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday. Star-Ledger staff writer Colin Stephenson takes a look at the state of the team after Saturday's 4-2 loss.

1. Did this team suffer a post-Rangers letdown? Or was it the third game in four nights?

Brent Sutter said it was a little bit of both, and I tend to agree. They gave up a goal a minute and 10 seconds into the game, which suggests a letdown, but then picked up their game and took a 2-1 lead 5:09 into the second. But then they seemed to wear down in the final 30 or so minutes. The Sabres outshot them 8-7 in the first period and 18-9 in the second and 8-6 in the third. That's an indicator the Sabres had more of the play in the second half of the game, which suggests the Devils may have tired a bit.

2. Kevin Weekes. How did he play, honestly?

Well, I think he played as well as could be expected. Sutter damned him with faint praise, saying Weekes played "okay.'' And while the coach was probably dead on in his assessment, he could have been more tactful. He did acknowledge Weekes hadn't played in a while, but didn't seem to want to allow that rust may have been the reason the goalie wasn't better than just "okay.'' Weekes seemed to see the shots well -- better than he did in his last game, when he looked a little unsteady in the 5-2 win over the Islanders. He made the first save, but didn't always cover the puck or control the rebounds. On Thomas Vanek's first goal, there was little he could do on the shot, but if he'd covered the puck on the initial shot by Jochen Hecht, there would have been no goalmouth scramble and no shot by Vanek. On the four-on-three goal, Weekes may have gone down a little early on Jaroslav Spacek's fake slapshot, leaving him helpless when Spacek passed to Derek Roy for the game-winner.

3. So what should Sutter do with Weekes? Play him more to get him in some kind of rhythm, or bury him?

Sutter said the schedule is picking up with lots of games going forward from here and he'll need to play both Weekes and Scott Clemmensen. That should help. It's tough to be sharp when you play once every three weeks. I'd like to see Weekes play a little more often -- every other game, every third game, whatever -- just to see if he can help the team, before the coach gives up on him completely.

4. What's the story with Brian Rolston?

Well, this is basically his preseason. He missed a lot of games with the ankle sprain and he's got a lot of catching up to do. The only thing that is going to get him up to speed is ice time, and he had a decent amount Saturday -- 19:45, even without any power play time. Look, right now, there's no spot for him in the top two lines, which means he's stuck playing on a third line with John Madden and Jay Pandolfo, two guys who think defense first. Scoring opportunities will be hard to come by at even strength. But right now, the Devils are getting by without a major contribution from him, so everything's good.